


Blooming Bouquet

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Awkward Romance, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Implied/Referenced Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Ong Seongwoo Being an Idiot, Some coarse language, a bit of crack, sorta slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 22:52:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13844700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze
Summary: In spring, love makes people blossom. Literally. Seongwoo regards himself in the mirror and desperately wishes it wasn't so.(So does Minhyun because he's having troublebreathingwith all the pollen in the air. Or should he say love?)





	Blooming Bouquet

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I did the prompt justice? I may have deviated a little bit, aaaahhh

“Hey, Seongwoo hyung, did you hit your chin on something?”

 

“No. I mean, I don’t remember doing that and I think I would have. Why?”

 

Guanlin giggles and nudges Jihoon who grins and reaches over to jab two fingers into Seongwoo’s face, laughing as Seongwoo tries to evade him but fails, “You have a purple splotch right _here_ , like that time you tripped on your shoelaces because you were ‘too cool’ to tie them and fell on your face.”

 

Seongwoo abandons the remains of his Japanese curry dish with a groan, pulling out his phone to switch on the front facing camera and tilting his head backwards to get a better look at what Jihoon was blabbering about. “I thought we agreed we weren’t bringing that time up again,” he whines, inspecting his skin carefully, “I had to go around with a mask for _two weeks_ , my poor face, I, _oh-_ ”

 

“Hmm?” Guanlin throws half his lanky body over the table to peer at Seongwoo’s face more closely, “What is it? Did you hurt yourself after all, hyung?”

 

“No, it’s……..” Seongwoo hesitated, taking a breath to steel himself before pressing down on the spot hard, bracing himself for pain that doesn’t come, “……I think it’s a petal.”

 

“ _No_ ,” Jihoon’s exclamation is exhaled with the kind of unholy glee that has Seongwoo grimacing instinctively, “Move your hand, move your hand, I need to see this properly for myself!”

 

“What do you mean see this properly, dammit, Jihoon, get out of my face! You already jabbed me in the jaw like thirty seconds ago, what more do you want?!”

 

His younger friend just grins, pushing Seongwoo’s hands away and grabbing his jaw to angle Seongwoo’s head to his liking with a firm hand despite the older’s whines, not that Seongwoo was struggling overly hard. After living in the same dorm as Jihoon for a year, and then deciding to share an apartment close to the university along with two other friends, Seongwoo has gotten used to Jihoon’s brand of physical affection and tendency to manhandle friends he’s comfortable with. Nowadays, he’s learnt that it’s usually less exhausting just to let the younger have his way rather than to fight, though he puts up a token protest anyways to make sure Jihoon knows this is Seongwoo’s own way of indulging him.

 

“Oh my,” Jihoon’s grin turns sharp and taunting, mischief gleaming on each perfect ivory tooth, “oh my, oh my, would you look at that? It _is_ a petal! Quick, Guanlin! Take a picture while I hold him down and send it to the group!”

 

“On it!” Guanlin’s phone seems to materialize immediately, though it was likely that he had never put it down considering how attached the boy was to his phone, “Say cheese, hyung!”

 

“Do we have to make a spectacle of this?” Seongwoo whines, finally jerking his head free of Jihoon’s grip with a glare after Guanlin’s flash half-blinds him and probably made him look positively ghastly in the picture, rubbing at the sore area with mounting irritation, “So there’s a petal, what’s the big deal?”

 

“What's the big deal? The great Seongwoo, unattached and aloof Ong Seongwoo, doesn’t do serious relationships right now Ong Seongwoo, has a petal blossoming on his skin. How is that _not_ a big deal?”

 

Seongwoo scoffs and rubs at the mark as if that alone will make it fade, steadfastly ignoring how his phone is threatening to vibrate its way off the table with the influx of messages from their group chat in response to Guanlin’s picture, “It’s probably nothing but a passing fancy, it’ll fade.”

 

“A passing fancy?” Jihoon scoffs, “One that’ll make _you_ bloom? Nope, not buying it.”

 

“Hyung,” Guanlin has made his way around the table at some point and now flops himself into the empty seat beside Seongwoo, leaning heavily against the older man as if intending to trap him there with his weight and spider-like limbs, “Who is it?”

 

“I told you that it’s nothing- hey!” Seongwoo protests as Guanlin turns his attention towards the table, scarfing down the last bites of Seongwoo’s lunch, “I was eating that!”

 

“I’m hungry hyung, I’m a growing boy, I need lots of food,” Guanlin finishes the rice easily, turning a gummy smile towards Seongwoo as he parrots Jisung’s words at him, words that have become the favourite excuse of the maknaes when it came to wrangling food from their hyungs.

 

“You’re hardly a _boy_ anymore, Guanlin, you’re taller than I am and certainly taller than Jihoon will ever be,” Seongwoo grumbles, ripping open a package of Choco-Pies and biting into the snack mulishly, jerking backwards to avoid Jihoon’s swipe at him, “What? It’s true! Don’t act like we all don’t know you wear insoles.”

 

Jihoon pulls a face and types furiously on his phone, a glint in his eyes that makes Seongwoo distinctly uncomfortable and feeling like he might have just made a terrible mistake.

 

“Jihoonie-”

 

Jihoon rockets to his feet, sending his chair flying behind him with a screech against linoleum, “I’ll catch you later hyung, lots of things to do, people to see.”

 

“Jihoonie-ah, what are you doing?”

 

“Bye hyung!”

 

Seongwoo throws his head backwards with a dramatic groan, “Guanlin-ah, you’re not going to abandon hyung like that, are you?”

 

Guanlin blinks up at him and points to the half-eaten Choco-Pie in his hand, “Hyung, are you going to eat that?”

 

The older man sighs and passes over the treat to an eager Guanlin, “I’ve lost my appetite, take it.”

 

“Thanks hyung!”

 

 

**~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ ❀ ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ .**

 

 

The doorbell rings when Minhyun was halfway through cracking an egg into his pot of stew.

 

“Coming!” he shouts over his shoulder, cracking the egg hastily and then biting back a curse when pieces of the shell fall in with the jerky motion.

 

Deciding that whomever it was could wait another minute or two, he stops to fish out the pieces before he loses them entirely and end up crunching on eggshell later. Chucking the stray pieces into the sink, he turns the heat on low before rinsing his hands quickly and jogging to the door of his apartment.

 

“About time you opened the door,” grumbles Seongwoo, pouting up at Minhyun who just laughs and steps back to let his friend into the apartment.

 

“You caught me at a bad time, or well, a good time for you. Did you eat yet?” Minhyun eyes the pinched look on Seongwoo’s face with a minute amount of worry.

 

“Ah, Minhyunie, are you going to feed me?” Seongwoo grins up at him, the smile instantly lighting up his face and dispelling the air of unease he had walked into the apartment with, “I knew you were my favourite for a reason, everyone else just steals food from me, but not you. You actually feed me home cooked food. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

 

“Maybe you saved me in a past life,” Minhyun jokes, walking back into the kitchen to turn the stove off, Seongwoo following him and pulling out two bowls with the ease of someone who had visited too many time, setting both within easy reach for Minhyun before heading over towards the rice cooker, whistling lightly, “Thanks. And it’s not really homemade, I just reheated some of the prepackaged stuff from the mart and added some vegetables to it.”

 

“And an egg,” Seongwoo sings, “Can I put one more in? One for each of us?”

 

“And an egg,” Minhyun concedes with a laugh, “Yeah sure, go for it. You want the cooked one or?”

 

Minhyun watches fondly as Seongwoo almost skips towards the fridge, grabbing an egg before hurrying back over eagerly, “I like mine a little raw, lemme just crack that in before you fill the bowl.”

 

They move to settle down with their food at the dinning table, a tiny rickety thing that could seat four but would just barely fit six if they squished - Jonghyun’s boss from his part-time job had given to them for free last year when her son paid to have her house renovated and living as a college student had given all of them a newfound appreciation for free things. Free furniture certainly was nothing to turn their nose up at even if one of the legs was a little shorter than the other three and there were rings of coffee and tea stained into its surface and a chip here and there.

 

Despite Minhyun’s best efforts, the table was almost always littered with empty, unwashed coffee mugs, and piles of textbooks and random pages of notes, making the little table feel even smaller than it was. Seongwoo expertly clears away a space for them to set their dinner down, piling items precariously on top of each other in a way that had Minhyun biting his tongue to stop from complaining, knowing that if he did Seongwoo would immediately shoot to his feet and wash all the used cups instead and leave his meal to go cold.

 

Both of them dig into the piping hot stew, Minhyun with a quietly pleased hum while Seongwoo gives off an exaggeratedly happy groan before shovelling more of it into his mouth, hissing when he inevitably burns his tongue. Minhyun laughs, almost choking on the soup when Seongwoo whines and sticks his tongue out for him to see, the pout on his face making it clear he was looking for sympathy.

 

Minhyun rolls his eyes, “Stop whining you big baby, you do that to yourself almost every time. Just slow down! The food isn’t going anywhere.”

 

“But it’s so _good_ ,” Seongwoo shakes the moment off and goes back to inhaling his food, wincing every once in a while when the tender part of his tongue gets scorched again, “You’re the only person I know who can make pre-packaged food taste this amazing. Are you sure I can’t just move in here with you guys? I’ll do the dishes and help you clean every day.”

 

“And default on your rent for the place you have with Daniel? He’ll kill you,” Minhyun reminds him lightly, standing up to get seconds and nabbing Seongwoo’s bowl as well without being asked, “Besides, there’s no more room here, where are you even going to sleep? There’s a spring close to sticking out of the couch, your back would never be the same again.”

 

“With you of course,” Seongwoo announces easily and Minhyun curses internally at the slight fluttering in his chest, knowing that his friend didn’t mean anything by that statement; the man flirted as easily as he breathed.

 

“You wish, I’m not dealing with your knobby knees digging into my side all night,” he retorts, setting the refilled bowls down and busying himself with eating so that he wouldn’t have to look at Seongwoo in that moment.

 

“What if we were spooning? Do you like to be the big spoon or the little spoon?”

 

Minhyun splutters, face flushing as he looks up at Seongwoo who just throws his head back and laughs, “Neither! We’re not- wait, Seongwoo-ah, what’s that on your neck?”

 

“Huh?” Seongwoo sits back up, “Did I get rice on myself?”

 

“No, it looks kinda like a bruise? More than one, like a trail up to your jaw,” Minhyun frowns, ready to lean forward to take a close look when Seongwoo groans and slaps a hand over the side of his neck Minhyun had been peering at.

 

“Not again,” he groans.

 

“Not what again?”

 

“Petals,” Seongwoo admits, crinkling his nose in distaste, unaware of the way Minhyun feels his stomach plummet at the admission and what it could mean, that Seongwoo has gone and fallen in love with someone and somehow the realization hurts more than Seongwoo’s casual mentions of his one-night stands, “I think there’s something wrong honestly, I’m _not_ in love with anyone, so I don’t know why they’re showing up.”

 

“Oh,” the tightness in his chest loosens just a tad, “Are you….going to go for a check up with the doctor to be sure? If something is wrong, it’d be best for you to catch it early on. I can come with you if you want.”

 

Seongwoo smiles at his concern, the small tug of his lips upwards turning his entire expression soft, “Okay, you don’t have to, but I’ll stop by the clinic tomorrow.”

 

“That’s good, you should- oh!” his hand flies to his mouth as Minhyun fails to bite back a laugh.

 

“What? Why are you laughing at me?”

 

“It, just, um, hang on,” Minhyun giggles to himself before he reaches out to brush his fingers against the tiny bud that has sprung into existence, just barely peeking out of Seongwoo’s hair near his ear, “You’re got a bloom right here.”

 

Seongwoo groans at the reminder and then pouts at Minhyun who can’t help but keep laughing at the sight, eyes lingering for a moment on way Seongwoo sticks his lower lip out, on the stubborn jut of his chin. Without meaning to, his outstretched fingers ghost over the shell of Seongwoo’s ear, following the soft curve, and Seongwoo shivers. Before Minhyun’s eyes, the bud swells into a purple balloon-like shape before the petals unfurl outwards, separating into five delicate points, and his lips part in a silent ‘oh’ of awe in witnessing the tiny flower sprout before his very eyes. “You bloomed, wow, I think that’s the first time I’ve seen someone bloom in front of me.”

 

“I look silly, don’t I?” Seongwoo complains and Minhyun fumbles for his phone, to take a picture and show Seongwoo or to take a picture and feed the group chat, he’s unsure.

 

“Here,” he finally snaps a quick photo and then turns the screen towards Seongwoo, snickering lightly to himself at the appalled face Seongwoo pulls at the sight of that delicate purple blossom seemingly tucked behind his left ear.

 

“I look stupid.”

 

“You look lovely,” Minhyun’s lips betray him before he can control himself but it’s not the first time he’s blurted out overly affectionate things to Seongwoo since they’ve become closer over the past couple of months and it’s easy enough to brush off with a laugh and a distraction, “Oh look! I think there’s another one coming out.”

 

“Another?” Seongwoo despairs and he looks so despondent Minhyun laughs himself sick, laughs until he’s clutching his stomach even though it’s really not _that_ funny, until he takes one gasping breath too many near Seongwoo and sneezes violently.

 

“ _Woah_ , um, bless you. You okay?”

 

“Ye-” he’s cut off again by another sneeze, eyes watering as his nose continues to itch, “ _oh_ , I forgot.”

 

“Forgot what?” Seongwoo leans forward concerned, blinking in confusion when Minhyun back peddles quickly, one hand over his nose and the other arm extended as if warding Seongwoo off.

 

“ **Don’t**!”

 

Seongwoo freezes, limbs locking in place at the command as he stares at Minhyun like a deer caught in headlights, eyes twice their normal size, with tiny purple flowers swaying in his hair to complete the comical sight. “Minhyun? You okay?”

 

“Yes, just, don’t come any closer,” Minhyun commands, glaring at the innocent looking purple petals waving at him mockingly from the top of Seongwoo’s head before he’s seized by a violent sneezing fit.

 

“Min?”

 

“I think you should leave.”

 

“What? Did I - did I do something wrong?”

 

“No,” Minhyun chokes out, rubbing his nose as his sniffles, “it’s just, I forgot how much I hate spring.”

 

“….o-kay? You forgot…..?”

 

“My allergies,” Minhyun deadpans, nose red and twitching with another sneeze at the mere sight of the flowers, eyes suspiciously bright with tears.

 

The silence is punctuated by another sneeze, the force of which sends Minhyun stumbling backwards and Seongwoo scrambles for the door. “Right, I’ll just, um, I’ll get out of your hair then. Sorry.”

 

The only answer Minhyun is able to offer him as the door closes is another sneeze and Seongwoo hurries to leave the apartment before he kills Minhyun just from standing there.

 

 

**~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ ❊** **❀ ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ .**

 

 

Seongwoo goes to bed feeling terrible for triggering Minhyun’s allergies and wondering if the other man was okay. He wakes up to his alarm and a text message that has a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

 

 

**Minhyunnie [8:25 AM]**

 

Hey, sorry for kicking you out last night, I have really bad allergies

We’re cool though right?

 

 

He pulled his phone closer, shooting back a text quickly, yawning and struggling to sit up as he wonders whether he could sleep in for another ten minutes and just forgo breakfast or something.

 

 

**Ong Seongwoo [8:31 AM]**

 

Yeah, we’re cool, don’t worry about it!

You sounded really bad last night though, you okay?

 

 

His stomach protests with a thunderous grumble and Seongwoo groans, rolling over to flop over the side of his bed. Well, so much for trading in breakfast for more sleep, his stomach certainly didn’t agree with that plan. He drags himself up tediously, stumbling out of his room and into the washroom, barely registering that Daniel was in the shower.

 

“Seongwoo hyung?” Daniel calls, voice distorted by the spray, “Is that you?”

 

“No, it’s your ghostly roommate, who else do you think is it?” Seongwoo yawns as he relieves himself.

 

“Very funny,” Daniel grumbles, “Just don’t flush the toilet or you’re going to burn me alive.”

 

“You better flush it when you get out then, I’m not awake enough to remember.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, oh shit, did I bring my towel? I think I threw the old one in the hamper last night.”

 

Seongwoo bites down on his toothbrush to avoid having to hold it, rummaging through the overhead cupboard by the door. “No, and there’s nothing here either,” his words come out garbled around the toothbrush as he pulls his own towel off the hook on the back of the door, “Here, use mine for now. Just chuck it in the hamper when you’re done.”

 

A squeak of the knob and the water stops, Daniel steps out in the nude, completely unabashed, arm outstretched to grab the offered towel. “Thanks hyung.”

 

“No problem,” Seongwoo goes back to brushing his teeth and spits out the foam, rinsing out his mouth before splashing water on his face and reaching for his cleansing oil.

 

He remembers the way Jaehwan had screamed bloody murder the first time he saw Daniel wandering around the living room practically naked and snickers to himself. Daniel was probably one of the least body-shy people Seongwoo has ever met, constantly walking around their shared living space shirtless or only in his boxers, which Seongwoo didn’t mind, though he personally preferred to stay relatively covered.Growing up with Daniel had long since desensitized Seongwoo to the sight of him walking around partially clothed, or barely clothed in some cases, and Seongwoo is pretty sure he’s seen Daniel’s dick more than his current girlfriend has.

 

Never mind that half their school would kill to say the same thing (the amount of times Seongwoo has found himself being cornered by some girl or guy asking about Daniel’s dick size was actually pretty concerned and bordering on ridiculous), Seongwoo had no idea why so many people were gagging for his childhood friend’s generous, but relatively normal dick. Maybe he just couldn’t see the appeal, what with having been the person that Daniel ran crying to as a kid the first time his ‘pee-pee’ was hard and Jisung was out of town for camp and he didn’t know how to make it go away, and looking from the perspective of a strictly heterosexual guy.

 

“What’s so funny?” Daniel asks, hip checking Seongwoo out of the way so he could start brushing his teeth.

 

“Nothing,” Seongwoo bites back a laugh, “Just thinking about something.”

 

“Thinking about your girl?” Daniel teases, moving his hand to flick one of the purple flowers teasingly, “Who is it? Subin, the cute accounting major you picked up at the club on the weekend? Or was it that chick from your Journalism elective you sweet-talked into your bed two weeks ago? Jihyun, I think her name was?”

 

“You remember their names better than I do,” Seongwoo laughs, “No, it’s no one. There’s something wrong probably, I’m not in love with anyone. Minhyun told me to go check with the doctor, I’m dropping by the university’s clinic between classes today so don’t wait on me for lunch.”

 

Speaking of Minhyun, Seongwoo checks the phone he left on the ledge and sure enough there’s new messages from his friend.

 

 

**Minhyunnie [8:38 AM]**

 

Yes, I’m fine, but I don’t think I can go with you to the clinic today ):

Will you be okay by yourself?

 

 

He smiles to himself at the way other man’s concern was evident even through text; it was sweet of him but that was Hwang Minhyun for you. Always worried about someone else even when he was the one who was sneezing his face off last night. Seongwoo texts back quickly to tell Minhyun he’ll be fine (he _is_ an adult now) only to be torn away from his thoughts by the sound of Daniel’s infectious giggles and a poke to his temple.

 

“What?”

 

“Hyung, you’ve got another one now, two more, even, oh but they look a little different,” Daniel sings, “They’re red, kinda orangey and sort of long? They’re blooming now, _oh_ it’s pretty! Like little clusters of butterflies. _Two_ whole types of flowers, are you _sure_ you’re not in love?”

 

Seongwoo snorts, pushing the washroom door open and making for his room, “Absolutely. Me, in love. Who would believe it? It’s a mistake, obviously a mistake. Maybe some hormonal imbalance due to stress, the good doctor will be able to let me know.”

 

 

**~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ **❊** **❀**  ✿** **~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ .**

 

 

The visit to the university clinic yields absolutely no results at all.

 

The doctor on duty had taken one look at Seongowo after hearing his story and given him a _look_ of utter disbelief before shooing him out of the clinic for wasting his time over “emotional constipation”. Miffed, Seongwoo had kicked up a fuss in the waiting room before stomping out and booking an appointment at one of the walk-in clinics in town that he had been to twice when the school’s clinic hours didn’t match his hellish schedule.

 

The doctor there had similarly regarded him with a look of disbelief on her face before sighing and giving him a check up and declaring everything in order. At the wary look on Seongwoo’s face, she had then proceeded to draw three tubes of blood from him and advised him she would send it in for further testing to put his worries at rest and call him with the results. A week later, her receptionist rang him up to inform him cheerfully that he was at the peak of health, no worries whatsoever, and hung up after wishing him a good day.

 

Except everything _wasn’t_ fine.

 

Seongwoo’s hair now sports, on the last count, a total of four different type of flowers. Guanlin took to forcing Seongwoo to sit down and then taking pictures, looking up all the different flowers Seongwoo has growing on his head and chattering at him like a curious child, eyes lit up, asking him things in rapid-fire like, “ _Hey hyung, do you know the meanings behind the flowers in your hair? They all have different meanings, that’s so cool, isn't it?"_ He sent daily updates, snapshots of what flowers are blooming on Seongwoo’s head, to the rest of their group chat where everyone bombarded Seongwoo with kissy emoticons, teasing him relentlessly and demanding to know who the mystery lover was despite Seongwoo's numerous insistences that there _was_ none.

 

Minhyun stayed conspicuously silent in the group chat, turned Seongwoo away at the door when he shows up asking if everything is okay, and talked to him through the phone only, refusing to subject himself to another sneezing fit. Not that Seongwoo could really blame him.

 

They had tried to meet up twice since: once with Minhyun wearing a mask boasting superior air filtration abilities and then second with the mask while he was doped up on allergy medication and neither option did a single thing. Minhyun’s eyes had started watering within minutes and by the five minute mark, he was sneezing so often he looked like he was struggling to breathe, sending Seongwoo running away in a panic while shouting apologies profusely over his shoulder.

 

Jihoon, the unsympathetic and smug child that he was, had laughed himself sick the first time he saw Seongwoo cursing while trying to bat bees and butterflies away from his head. In between gasping breaths, he had taken out his phone and sent a snapchat video of Seongwoo’s meltdown and losing battle with the bees to everyone, and _then_ proceeded to post the video on Instagram as well.

 

It went viral within the hour and Seongwoo has not forgiven him for the indignity since.

 

Jinyoung gives him a wide-eyed look when he stumbles into the tutorial and then deadpans, “Hyung, you look like a bush” like the straightforward little shit he could be.

 

“I know,” Seongwoo grouses back, “Trust me. I _know._ Can we please just, get this tutorial over with?”

 

“You’re the TA,” the younger sasses back and Seongwoo glares but bit his tongue because Jinyoung was _right_ and the rest of the class was sitting there staring at him so he sucks it up and tries to project at least the facade of professionalism before stomping over to the blackboard and starting to scrawl out the guidelines for the upcoming lab across the top.

 

Jinyoung hangs back after the tutorial and Seongwoo’s heart softens when he sees the look of genuine apology on his younger friend’s face. “Sorry hyung,” Jinyoung apologizes like the good kid he is (unlike Jihoon who still won’t stop laughing every time he sees Seongwoo and hangs around obnoxiously to count the number of flowers he has in his hair), “I shouldn’t have said that in front of the entire class, Daehwi said you were already really stressed about it.”

 

“It’s okay Jinyoungie,” Seongwoo pulls the boy in for a quick side-hug before ruffling his hair which has Jinyoung scowling and muttering about him messing it up, making the older grin, “Hyung knows you didn’t mean it, and I was stressed too and snapped at you, I’m sorry. Wanna grab coffee? It’s on me.”

 

Fixing his hair, Jinyoung trots after Seongwoo, “Sure hyung. But, did you ever find out why you’re blooming?”

 

Seongwoo lets out an extended sigh, the kind of long suffering sound that his friends were increasingly used to hearing from him in the past couple of weeks. “No, the doctor didn’t find anything. They ran three tests and it all came back negative and they won’t run any more. Told me if I had problems maybe I should speak to a counsellor because it doesn’t have any physiological basis, can you believe it?”

 

“So Jihoonie hyung is right then? You _do_ like someone.”

 

“I don’t!”

 

“But there’s no other reason for you to be blooming, hyung,” Jinyoung points out with a knowing look, “And blooming doesn’t happen for crushes or anything, you have to really like them, love them even.”

 

“Well all I’ve had in the past year are flings and one-night stands, Jinyoungie,” Seongwoo remarks drily as they push through the afternoon crowd towards the cafe in the East end courtyard; it’s the one with these fantastic creme brûlée croissants that Seongwoo should probably stop indulging in, but they’re Jinyoungie’s favourites and Seongwoo won’t ever admit it but he loves spoiling his underclassmen, “I don’t have the urge to even sleep with them again, much less give them a call back and have a heart-to-heart, I don’t think that theory has any basis.”

 

“Someone from before that then?” his friend asks as they take their place in line behind all the other university students looking to get their dose of sugar and caffeine to last them through the day.

 

“Nothing happened _last_ spring and there were no rekindled connections, so no. I’m telling you guys, it’s all a mistake and I probably have some obscure medical condition that’s going to kill me within three months and none of us know it yet. In fact, the flowers are probably taking root in my brains as we speak, soon to erode all my speech and motor functions.”

 

“Stop being dramatic, hyung, you know that’s not how it works or the whole blooming process would have killed everyone by now, “ Jinyoung rolls his eyes as he scolds Seongwoo without remorse, knowing that _someone_ had to knock some sense into Seongwoo given how easily the older had a tendency to wallow in his own head and then spiral into melodramatics.

 

“Well I can’t think of any other reason!”

 

“And terminal illness is the only cause you could possibly attribute this to?” Jinyoung questions with a raised eyebrow before turning to give his order to the barista with a charming smile, “I’m trying to help here, hyung, no need to get testy with me.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry, it’s just,” Seongwoo reaches up to scratch at his temple and then curses as it dislodges a handful of flowers, causing petals to rain down around him to the amusement of their barista, “it’s driving me insane and I haven’t been able to see Minhyun for the past _month_.”

 

“Minhyun hyung?”

 

“Yeah, he’s, um, he’s got really bad allergies, yeah? I saw him when I first started blooming and he had like, three sneezing fits just from being in the same room as me, and back then I had the one flower on me. We tried meeting up the first week this started with him wearing a mask and taking meds, and it did absolutely _nothing_ , he sneezed so hard he almost fell over and I literally ran away from him because I felt terrible. His eyes were all red and watery and, Jesus, Jinyoung, you have no idea. Have you seen him? Is he okay?”

 

They settle down at a table in a little nook near the back by the windows, the spot a bit too sunny for Seongwoo’s tastes but it was cozy enough to overlook the fact it was overly warm from the sun streaming through the glass.

 

“He’s alright, well, busy and a little miserable because it is spring and you’re hardly the only thing that triggers his allergies. You really haven’t seen him since?”

 

“I want to,” Seongwoo laments, “But he won’t risk it even when he’s taken allergy medication. Says I’m a “concentrated source of pollen” that he’d rather avoid. Wouldn’t even open the door for me when I brought him food as a bribe. Just yesterday I watched as he booked it across the field before I could even say hello from _thirty metres away_. Jinyoungie, this is the worst! I want to hang out with Minhyun! Texting and Skype isn’t the same!”

 

“You could….hang out with other people for now?” Jinyoung offers, taking a sip of his latte carefully, clearly remembering the last time he had rushed and the lid had somehow come flying off and he ended up pouring half of his scalding drink on his lap, “Spring will end soon and then you see him again; aren’t you both super busy anyways?”

 

“We are,” Seongwoo agreed grudgingly, “But he makes it easier, you know? Who else am I supposed to mooch food off of during finals? Who else drops by to bring me coffee at 2 AM when I’m about to throw myself out the window because of my thesis, pretending he was ‘just in the area and grabbing something for himself’ even though it’s the middle of the night and he doesn’t even _like_ coffee, the idiot.”

 

“No one?”

 

“Exactly! How am I supposed to live without that? And he texts me apologizing all the time for not seeing me which just makes me feel even _worse_ about trying to push and talk to him when I _know_ how bad I trigger his allergies okay, and he’s asking if I’m eating well, and just-”

 

“Hyung, you’re doing it again.”

 

“Doing what _?_ ”

 

Jinyoung points at his head, “Flowering, it’s a red one with a long pistil-”

 

“What the hell is a pistil?”

 

“The, um, the middle part of the flower where all the pollen is?”

 

“Why do you know this?”

 

“Because I’m a Botony major,” Jinyoung deadpans, “No hyung, it’s because I paid attention in class as a kid, _how_ are you a scholarship student?”

 

“I don’t need plant biology for Chemical Engineering,” Seongwoo waves off his concerns easily, “But seriously, another one? I don’t have _room_ on my head anymore!”

 

“At least you’re not flowering anywhere else?”

 

“Don’t you go jinxing it! But barely anyone flowers anywhere else anymore.”

 

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, I’ve seen a one or two unfortunate souls wandering around with migrating flower blooms.”

 

Seongwoo snorts, ripping off a bite of Jinyoung’s croissant before he can complain and popping it into his mouth, “If you’re talking about Yoonmi, that’s not a migrating bloom; it’s because the poor girl keeps sprouting hanging flowers. Last I saw her, she’s just started braiding them into her hair and calling it a day. Our supervisor almost banned her from the lab because she bent over one time to recalibrate the measurements for a sample and a nearby Bunsen burner nearly set her on fire when a loose vine started growing. It looks pretty though, I think some of the photography majors have been bugging her for a photoshoot.”

 

“I guess you got lucky then.”

 

“If you can call this lucky, yeah.”

 

Jinyoung is silent for a moment, stuffing the rest of his croissant into his mouth to pre-emptively stop Seongwoo from stealing any more and looking intently at the newest additions to Seongwoo’s head as he chewed, “Hey hyung.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“What if it isn’t one of your conquests triggering this?”

 

Seongwoo rolls his eyes, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you guys since the beginning.”

 

“No,” Jinyoung shakes his head, “I mean, what if it’s someone you’re close with but overlooking completely because you don’t know you see them romantically?”

 

“Uh, there are like all of two girls I’ve talked to enough to actually call a friend over the past year, and one of them might as well be engaged while the other is a lesbian, but either way, I’m pretty sure I’m not harbouring unrequited feelings for either of them.”

 

“…….what if it’s not a girl?”

 

Seongwoo freezes for a split second before he laughs, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

 

“Why does it _have_ to be though?”

 

“I’m not gay, Jinyoung,” Seongwoo says with perhaps a little louder than he meant to, chugging down the rest of his drink just a bit too fast, the liquid catching uncomfortably in his throat until swallowing feels like a stone passing through his throat, scraping against his larynx, “I like girls, I like looking at boobs, I like having sex with girls, the whole shebang.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you _can’t_ like guys, hyung,” Jinyoung explains patiently with the tone of a kindergarten teacher schooling an unruly four year old, “Bisexuality is a thing, you know.”

 

“I’m not interested in men, Jinyoung.”

 

“You talk a lot about Minhyun hyung for someone who isn’t interested in men. In fact, your biggest complaint wasn’t that the flowers were annoying you, but that the flowers meant you couldn’t see Minhyun hyung anymore.”

 

There’s an uncomfortable pit in his stomach and Seongwoo wonders if that’s the seed of all the flowers blooming on his head weighing him down and pressing against his gut. “We’re friends. I miss him because we’re close and I enjoy his company; it’s, it’s an emotional bond, Jinyoung, not sexual.”

 

“And love is about emotions, not just sexual attraction, or else you would be blooming for all your fuck buddies, wouldn’t you?” Jinyoung looks at him with something akin to pity and it makes Seongwoo want to throw the coffee he just drank back up in his face.

 

“I’m not gay, or bisexual, or whatever you want to call it. I’m not attracted to guys, or you’d think I’d have jumped Daniel already with the way he walks around stalkers all the time.”

 

“Hyung, that’s just offensive,” Jinyoung frowns at him, “Being gay or bisexual doesn’t mean you’re going to be attracted to every guy and want to screw them, just like being heterosexual doesn’t make you want to jump every girl you see.”

 

“But Daniel’s attractive!”

 

“And you see him as a brother! Would you want to jump Doyeon if she was walking around scantily clad?”

 

“What the fuck Jinyoung, that’s my cousin!”

 

“Exactly! She’s attractive and female but you see her as family, just like you do Daniel.”

 

“That still doesn’t mean I’m gay!”

 

“I’m not _saying_ you’re gay, I’m just saying that maybe you need to think about the possibility that the person you’re in love with isn’t a girl!” Jinyoung is practically shouting at this point and people around them are starting to stare.

 

Hell, Seongwoo is staring because this is the loudest he’s heard Jinyoung yell before and certainly the most upset he’s seen the younger man. He opens his mouth to protest but one look at the livid expression on Jinyoung’s face has him holding his tongue and letting the other continue.

 

“Hyung, love is more than that, it’s more than just _gender_ and _sex_. Sometimes you fall in love and maybe you’re not usually attracted to men, but for the right person, it wouldn’t be something that limits your feelings. And I’m not saying that this is true for everyone, but sometimes when you fall in love, you fall in love with the person and not their body. Is that really so hard to believe, to consider as a possibility?”

 

Seongwoo keeps his silence, chewing on the inside of his lower lip as Jinyoung meets his gaze squarely. An eternity seems to drag on by with every heave of Jinyoung’s chest following that impassioned speech and Seongwoo tries to respond but finds that all his words have dried up, a drought in his mind and his throat.

 

“I, I’m not-”

 

“Forget about the labels for a second, _please_ , just forget about the labels and think about what you _feel_ ,” Jinyoung gets to his feet heavily, lips pursed unhappily as he gathers his bag, “I’ll see you on Saturday, hyung. Thanks for the coffee.”

 

“J-Jinyoungie!”

 

“What?” the younger man pauses with a weary air, stopping to look back at Seongwoo whose feet still feels leaden, locking him into his seat.

 

“I, um, I’m sorry for what I said. That was inappropriate and wrong, and I apologize.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“I…..I’ll think about it. Thank you. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

 

Jinyoung sighs explosively, “It’s okay. Well, it’s not okay, but you apologized so, yeah it’s fine. I get that this is a hard topic for you and a lot of people though I don't really understand why because you've never seemed like you have a problem with this. I’ll see you around?”

 

“Yeah, see you around. I probably owe you a week’s worth of coffee after this.”

 

“I’m bringing Daehwi with me to cash that in,” Jinyoung warns, smiling a bit more genuinely now, “I’ve got lecture in twenty so I really do have to run, see you hyung.”

  

 

**~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ ** **❊ **❁**** **❀**  ✿**** **~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ .**

 

 

Seongwoo heads home in a daze.

 

He has half a mind to talk to Daniel about it, but something stops him dead as he pulls out his keys to unlock the door.

 

Maybe it’s the fact that they grew up together and he’s always been in the role of ‘hyung’, the older brother figure that should have the answers even though Daniel already had an older brother and has seen Seongwoo in all his less than glorious moments.

 

Maybe it’s because Daniel is going to look at him in that ‘I’m sort of disappointed in you but trying not to show it’ way once he finds out what Seongwoo said to Jinyoung in the heat of the moment and, okay, he really hopes Jinyoung never brings up the “I haven’t jumped Daniel” example ever, just on a matter of principle. 

 

And maybe it’s because Daniel is just a little too close to home, a little to close to _family_ and Seongwoo isn’t anywhere remotely comfortable with his family catching wind of this.They say something like one in ten people are homosexual which would probably mean Seongwoo lives within a statistical anomaly given that half his male friends are dating each other, and Seongwoo never wants any of them to think he's disgusted by the thought. He's happy for them because they're happy together but the thought that  _he himself might be gay_. It's not a thought he wants to explore.

 

Because how could the pastor’s son even consider being in love with a man?

 

He turns right back around, tucks his key into his pocket again, walks away from his apartment and calls Jonghyun instead.

 

Jonghyun picks up on the third ring and just the sound of his friend’s voice has Seongwoo spilling his guts. Jonghyun listens carefully like he always does and then stops Seongwoo halfway, telling him it would probably be better if they could talk face to face about this stuff because it sounds like Seongwoo really needs a friend right now and Seongwoo couldn’t agree more.

 

Since Seongwoo can’t drop by Jonghyun’s place anymore what with Minhyun’s allergies and he doesn’t want Daniel to overhear anything, just in case, they make plans for Seongwoo to drop by the computer lab so they can go out for dinner.

 

Seongwoo is so nervous he arrives fifteen minutes earlier than Jonghyun’s class ends and loiters outside the door, fiddling with his phone and scrolling mindlessly through Naver and Pann, catching up on celebrity gossip that he doesn’t actually even care about. He’s halfway through thread with a fan-complied theory about why the ring EXO’s Suho has been seen wearing pretty regularly lately is totally evidence he’s secretly dating one of the SM Rookies when Jonghyun’s class lets out and he stands at the side awkwardly waiting for his friend to come out. 

 

Jonghyun comes out with a smile, waving to a few classmates and before walking over to Seongwoo at a sedate pace. “Hey, sorry, we ran a little overtime, did you wait long?”

 

“No, don’t apologize, there was just less traffic on the way than I expected. Shall we go?”

 

“Yeah, are you craving anything? I kind of want sashimi.”

 

“Sashimi sounds good, I think there’s an Izakaya down the road that just opened up recently. Want to try there?”

 

“Only if you promise not to drink too much,” Jonghyun jokes, “It’s only a Tuesday and we both still have classes tomorrow. Plus, I don’t want us to have this entire talk and then you end up too drunk to remember it all.”

 

“Fine, but only because I will probably die and blow something up tomorrow morning if I’m hungover while doing my lab.”

 

And that’s how Seongwoo ends up spilling his soul out across a narrow wooden table in a secluded, dimly lit booth in-between bites of food and sips of the one beer he had been limited to by a stern Jonghyun while his friend listened just a patiently as he had over the phone. He’s chewing mulishly on a piece of marinated bamboo shoot after finishing his verbal diarrhea when he wonders if possibly this might have been a terrible idea given that Jonghyun is best friends with Minhyun. But really it’s too late to take it back now and Seongwoo honestly can’t think of a single other person he would be comfortable talking about this to.

 

“Seongwoo-ah,” Jonghyun starts, his voice carefully kept to something calming and non-judgemental, knowing that that wasn’t what Seongwoo needed right now, “Did you….have a chance to think about what Jinyoung said?”

 

“I, um, I guess I thought about it a little bit?”

 

“And?”

 

He swallows uncomfortably ready to blurt out a denial but there's something in the soulful, unassuming look of Jonghyun's eyes that screams _trust me_ and pulls the truth out of him before he can clamp his mouth shut. “And I guess…..I guess he has a point? About it maybe being someone I’m not considering.”

 

“And why haven’t you considered this person?” Jonghyun continues, calm as can be, “I’m not trying to tell you how to feel, or how you _should_ feel but, can I be honest here, Seongwoo?”

 

“Yes please, I mean, I came to talk to you because I could trust you to be honest with me.”

 

Jonghyun smiles at him looking just this side of fondly exasperated, picking up his beer and taking a drink as if he needed to prepare himself and gather some liquid courage when Seongwoo was the one about to vibrate out of his seat. “Speaking as a bystander, Seongwoo-ah, you got close with Minhyun really quickly. For only having known each other for a few months, you two are almost unnaturally comfortable with each other. You do things for him that you wouldn’t do for other people, _no_ , don’t give me that look, you hate cleaning Seongwoo. You hate it. You don’t wallow in filth like Jaehwan is content to do but you’re not exactly a neat person.

 

“Yet when you’re over, if Minhyun makes even the slightest complaint about how Dongho didn’t do the dishes again, or how Minki left his laundry all over the floor instead of putting it in the hamper, you’re suddenly on your feet cleaning in an apartment that isn’t even your’s. Hell, you’ll wash all the dishes, run the laundry, and even wipe down the table before offering to help Minhyun vacuum the flat; it’s honestly a little disconcerting to watch but I got used to it the third time it happened because it didn’t look like you were going to stop and it means I don’t have to help him clean up. But you do things like this and drop by with those organic fruit smoothies he likes when he’s pulling an all-nighter even though you’re not a fan of that “hippie vegan bullshit”, let him put his arm around your waist all casual-like even though you jump a mile into the air when anyone else touches you when you’re not ready for it. You drop flirty comments and then laugh it off-”

 

“Jonghyun-ah, okay, I get it,” Seongwoo lowers his head into the palms of his hands with a low groan, “I…..may be a little out of character around Minhyun, can we please get to the point instead of you reading out a laundry list of times I’ve been weird?”

 

“ _The point is_ , even as a bystander I can tell that you look at him differently, treat him differently. And he’s the same way towards you, honestly, we don’t get away with half the things you’re able to.And I really think that you could be happy if you let yourself so I want to understand why you’re fighting this so hard. Is it because you’re scared of being in a relationship? Because, Seongwoo-ah, you’re not really happy with your flings and one-night stands, are you? You don’t seem to be, I mean, you’ll brag about it when prompted but you don’t bring it up yourself, ever.”

 

Seongwoo is silent for a moment, licking his lips nervously, “I, I like sex as much as the next person Jonghyun, I don’t know what you mean.”

 

“I mean that the look on your face when you turn up the next morning after slipping out of some stranger’s bed is…..it’s not the look of someone who enjoyed a night out. I just want you to be happy, Seong-ah. That’s all. And I think you’re not letting yourself admit to something that could allow you to be happy. I just want to understand why.”

 

“I-I’m not……….I’m not supposed to be gay, Jonghyun. I’m not supposed to want to be with a man.”

 

“Sometimes,” Jonghyun pushes the empty dishes between them aside so that he can reach across and clasp his hand around Seongwoo’s, gently easing it from the vice-grip he has on his empty glass, “none of us can be what other people want us to be. So you should just be the best version of yourself, no one has the right to ask you to be anything else.”

 

“I don’t….how do you know if you’re in love? How do I know if, if I do love him?”

 

“I think your heart already decided long before now, hasn’t it?” Jonghyun gestures to the flowers at the top of Seongwoo’s head and Seongwoo can’t help but laugh, the sound just a little wet with tears he refused to shed, “Your mind just needs some time to catch up with your heart, that’s all. Ask yourself, what is it he does that makes you happy? Ask yourself if it is him that you’re happiest with. Ask yourself if you really just want to be friends with him, or if you want something more.”

 

Seongwoo’s hand spasms in Jonghyun’s hold, his teeth worries on his bottom lip and Jonghyun waits patiently as Seongwoo flips his hand to grips his digits tightly. He watches as Seongwoo drops his eyes to the surface of the table, eyelids falling to a half-mast almost as if he was shyly trying to hide his thoughts from the world and a light blush that had nothing to do with alcohol dusts the tops of his cheeks.

 

The blush on his cheeks seem to take on a life of their own and Jonghyun watches in silent amazement as that comely red slips upwards along the high of Seongwoo’s cheekbones, along his temples, before creeping into his hairline.

 

On the top of his head, a crown of red flowers slowly blossom, layers of petals unfurrowing with a silent sigh of delight as the other flowers on Seongwoo’s head seem to sway to the beat of a secret song. Jonghyun reaches over and carefully plucks one free, placing it in Seongwoo’s hands, smiling when Seongwoo cradles it gently between his palms.

 

“It looks like you’ve got your answer right here, don’t you?”

 

 

**~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ ❊ ❁ ❀ ✿ ❋** **~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ . ~ ° ~ .**

 

 

“Hello?” Minhyun yawns into the receiver of his phone, picking up without even bothering to check the caller display.

 

“Minhyun-ah….”

 

He sits up, suddenly wide awake at the sound of Seongwoo’s voice, the sound of his name being spoken with such hesitance has alarms blaring in his head. “Seongwoo-ah, is everything okay? Did something happen? Are you hurt?”

 

“No, I’m not, just. Minhyun-ah….can we, can we talk? There’s something I really need to tell you.”

 

“Okay,” Minhyun swallows, feeling his heart pound even as the nerves in his hands sing, tingling uncomfortably, pinpricks that he tries to shake off but is unable to, “What is it? You can tell me anything, you know that right?”

 

“Not, not like this,” Seongwoo’s sigh is an explosion of static, “Can I come over?”

 

Minhyun grimaces, eyeing the allergy medication that has proven useless in the face of the veritable garden growing from the top of Seongwoo’s head sitting innocently on his bedside table, “I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Seongwoo-ah. I won’t be able to hear anything you say, I’ll be sneezing the entire time.”

 

“Please?” Seongwoo begs, and Minhyun’s heart twinges as the thin reedy desperation he can practically taste through the receiver, “It’s not something I can say over the phone.”

 

“I really don’t think I can.”

 

There’s a beat of silence where Minhyun can hear nothing from Seongwoo’s end, when all that echoes in his room is the sound of the clock ticking and the muted shuffling of one of his roommates making their way to the washroom down the hall.

 

“What if I had a way to get rid of the flowers?”

 

“What?” Minhyun asks, wondering if he’d heard correctly.

 

“I said, what is I got rid of the flowers. Then it’d be okay right?”

 

“Um, I guess, but Seongwoo-ah, don’t do anything rash, we can just Skype-”

 

“I’ll be over in an hour, I promise I’ll get rid of the flowers so, let me in okay?”

 

“Seongwoo-ah-”

 

“An hour, see you then.”

 

The dial tone greets him and Minhyun drops his phone on the bed, flopping backwards with a groan. “What the hell is he going to do, the idiot?”

 

Slowly he convinces himself to get up off the bed and get ready since Seongwoo seemed to be determined to come over soon. It’s too early on a Saturday for most of his roommates. In fact, Dongho is the only one awake at this time, yawning into a bowl of oatmeal, half-asleep against the kitchen counter, having been too lazy to clear off the empty instant ramen cups littering their dining table so he count sit instead.

 

“Hey,” his friend offers a lazy hello that’s more of a yawn than an actual greeting, “You’re up early. Coming to the gym with me?”

 

“No, Seongwoo’s coming over in a bit,” Minhyun explains, trudging over to the kitchen to make himself breakfast and settling on pancakes, pulling the mix off of the top shelf.

 

“Seongwoo is?” Dongho looks at him quizzically, “What, did he fall out of love already? Last I heard he was killing you just from being within a twenty metre radius of you with those flowers of his.”

 

“No clue,” Minhyun shrugs, “He said he needed to talk to me, wouldn’t say it over the phone, and then vowed to get rid of the flowers and come over.”

 

“Do you think he’s going to kill off his love interest?”

 

“ _What?_ ” Minhyun squawks, jumping almost a foot into the air as he spins to stare at Dongho.

 

“No more love interest, no more love, no more flowers. Works right?”

 

“Oh my god, Dongho, _no_! Why would you even think that?!”

 

“Is that not how it works?” Dongho asks with an arched eyebrow, “How else is he going to get rid of the flowers?”

 

“I don’t know, pluck them?”

 

“Can he even pluck them all off? Guanlin sent another picture yesterday; if I didn’t know that was someone’s head, I would have thought he was a flower arrangement, you can barely even see his hair anymore.”

 

“He said he had a way. You want pancakes to go with your oatmeal?”

 

“Naw, I don’t need the extra carbs, but thanks. I’ll see you later, I should get going, I’m meeting Aron hyung there.”

 

Minhyun snorts to himself, “Hyung is meeting you at the gym _at 8 AM on a Saturday_? You’re kidding me.”

 

“Lost a bet,” Dongho grins, throwing his gym bag over one shoulder and nabbing a snack bar on his way out, “See ya, don’t die from pollen exposure.”

 

“Thanks, I’ll try not to,” Minhyun retorts drily, flipping his pancakes, eyeing the batter and decided he might as well make extra for Seongwoo when he gets here and for Minki and Jonghyun if they decide to wake up anytime before noon.

 

He’s just finished polishing off his portion with a generous dollop of strawberry compote when there’s a knock on the door. “Coming!” he calls a bit softer than he would normally so not to wake Jonghyun or Minki, hoping that Seongwoo still heard him.

 

Minhyun hesitates for a moment before opening the door, eyes shut and waiting for his lungs to seize up and his eyes to water. There’s a warm chuckle close to him, the sound making goosebumps rise on the back of his neck, sending shivers down his spine. “I told you I’d get rid of the flowers,” Seongwoo laughs, “Are you going to open your eyes anytime soon?”

 

He opens his eyes slowly to see Seongwoo standing on his doorstep with a chagrined smile, hands in his pockets and a beanie jammed over his head low enough that his eyebrows just barely peek out. “Hey angel eyes,” Seongwoo teases, delighting in the answering blush that spreads across Minhyun’s cheeks at the endearment, “How’ve you been? Can I come in now that I’m properly deflowered?”

 

Minhyun steps back, “Yeah, come in. What did you do? Just, beat them into submission with your beanie or something?”

 

“Or something,” Seongwoo agrees, stepping inside and toeing his shoes off, turning an oddly intense look towards Minhyun, “Sorry if this sounds weird but, can I hug you?”

 

“W-what?”

 

“Is that a no?” Seongwoo tilts his head to the side in question, hands at his side as he waits patiently for Minhyun’s response.

 

“No, I mean, yes you can,” he stammers, stepping into the circle of Seongwoo arms with only a minute pause before wrapping his own arms around Seongwoo’s waist, “You just…..surprised me.”

 

Seongwoo is skinnier than he is but Minhyun sags and melts against his chest all the same, tucking his head into the crook of the other’s neck as he tightens his grip around him, going boneless when one of Seongwoo’s hands sweep up and down his spine soothingly. “I missed this,” he admits softly, “You give good hugs.”

 

“Just my hugs?”

 

“I missed you too,” he confesses easily, too comfortable and giddy that Seongwoo was initiating contact to think twice about his words.

 

“Good, good,” Seongwoo sighs, breath hot against his ear, “I missed you a lot.”

 

They stand there in the middle of Minhyun’s cluttered living room in each other’s arms, resolutely ignoring the questions they’d have to field if either one of Minhyn’s roommates stumble out of their rooms to see them locked in an embrace. Minhyun finally draws away reluctantly after a few minutes, “Are you hungry? I made pancakes.”

 

Seongwoo grins, pulling Minhyun back in for another hug before tucking him snuggly against his side, “You’re a god amongst men, Hwang Minhyun, don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. But, can we talk first?”

 

He pulls Minhyun to a stop, a pleading look in his eyes even as he fidgets.

 

“You don’t want to eat?” Minhyun asks, the hesitation on Seongwoo’s face when offered food so uncharacteristic that he balks a little, “They’re going to be cold.”

 

“I do love your cooking, but,” he gestures sheepishly to his head that was still largely hidden by the beanie, “I don’t know how well my little gamble here will work. I’d rather tell you what I need to say first before my luck runs out or I chicken out.”

 

“Oh. Okay,” Minhyun feels his pulse quicken again, wiping sweaty palms on the front of his pajama bottoms as he wonders what could possibly be so important Seongwoo looked like he was ready to bolt at any moment, feet twitching as if he was half-way out the door already, “Do you want to sit?”

 

“Yes. No. I mean, oh damn it all,” he seizes both of Minhyun’s hands and looks him in the eyes with an earnest expression that stops Minhyun from looking away, “I’m just going to say it, okay?”

 

“O-Okay.”

 

“Hwang Minhyun.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I,” Seongwoo ducks his head suddenly, bowing over while shaking out his legs and clutching Minhyung’s hands tighter with a wild little laugh, “God, why is this so _hard_?”

 

“What’s so hard?”

 

“This!”

 

“Just say it already!” Minhyun shouts, looking at him with wide eyes.

 

“I can’t!”

 

“Say it!”

 

“This is hard! You don’t understand-”

 

“I don’t because you won’t say anything! You’re driving me crazy, just tell me!”

 

“Fine, I love you!”

 

“There, see, that was easy, you just……you love me?” Minhyun stutters, feeling his face heat up once the full force of Seongwoo’s words hits him.

 

Seongwoo gives a cry of despair or embarrassment and pulls his hands away to cover his face, Minhyun doesn’t know which it is, he’s standing there frozen knowing his ears are bright red and a beacon to all who don’t really need to know he’s dying inside, but he is.

 

He finally realizes he’s been silent for too long when Seongwoo wails out “Say something!” while huddled behind his couch in a fetal position probably, quickly following up the request with how it’s okay if Minhyun doesn’t want to respond or doesn’t even respond, he’ll take the silence as an answer and get out of his way, and-

 

Minhyun can’t help but smile to himself because this reaction, or overreaction really, is so typically Seongwoo and he can’t help but find it endearing. With a sigh (because what is he even getting himself into with this man?) he shuffles over until he’s standing beside Seongwoo who, sure enough, is huddled in a fetal position with his hands over his ears, berating himself under his breath. He crouches down and pulls Seongwoo’s hand away from his ears gently, laughing at the slight whimper that Seongwoo gives.

 

“Seongwoo-ah.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Are you ready for my response now?”

 

“ _No!_ ” the other man exclaims, the single syllable echoing loudly in the apartment and Minhyun can’t help it, he throws his head back and cackles.

 

There’s a thump of something being thrown against the wall and Minki’s irritated shout of “Shut up! I’m trying to sleep!” but all Minhyun can do is keep laughing (Seongwoo _loves him_ , nothing else matters right now) and try to coax Seongwoo’s face up out of where he’s buried it between his knees.

 

“Seongwoo-ah-”

 

“I’m not ready!”

 

“Seongwoo-ah, look at me.”

 

Silence and then he questions in a petulant voice, “Do I have to?”

 

“Yes, yes you do,” Minhyun urges, “I’m not answering your confession until you look at me.”

 

“That’s fine too, you can just not answer, I am totally okay with that right now-”

 

“Seongwoo.”

 

“No, I’m serious, this is fine.”

 

“Look at me.”

 

“I really would rather not-”

 

“Dammit Ong Seongwoo, look me in the eye so I can tell you I love you too!”

 

“You do?!”

 

Seongwoo’s head snaps up and almost smashes into Minhyun’s nose, only Minhyun having anticipated that reaction allowed him to jerk back fast enough to avoid it. The sudden motion and Minhyun’s tugging dislodges the beanie from the top of Seongwoo’s head and Minhyun gasps.

 

“Seongwoo-ah, what the hell did you do?”

 

Seongwoo bats away the beanie as if irritated, “That doesn’t matter right now, you love me back? Really?”

 

“It kind of does,” Minhyun’s voice climbs an entire octave as he stares in horror, “Why did you do this, are you crazy?”

 

“Crazy in love, maybe, yeah, _ow!_ ” he flinches when Minhyun smacks him on his head, “Why are you hitting me?!”

 

“What do you mean why? You’re bald!”

 

“How else was I supposed to get rid of all those flowers? What, do you not love me unless I have hair?”

 

“That’s not the point, what the hell Seongwoo!”

 

“Well I needed to talk to you,” Seongwoo insists stubbornly, “How else was I going to be able to talk to you without getting rid of the flowers?”

 

“But _shaving your_ _entire head_?”

 

“Does it look that bad?”

 

“Yes! I mean, no,” Minhyun laughs hysterically, “I don’t know, it’s just a shock?”

 

“But you still love me even though I’m bald, right?”

 

“Yes, you impossible, ridiculous man! I do, oh god, why do I?”

 

“Good,” Seongwoo grins and just like every time it never fails to send Minhyun’s head fluttering, “I love you too.”

 

He leans forward to close the distance between them and Minhyun follows quickly to meet him in the middle. When their lips touch Minhyun can’t help but sigh into it, feeling a lazy warmth like molten honey run through his veins, pooling into his gut as he melts into the contact. He feels like he’s melting; it’s a different kind of satisfaction, kissing someone whose touch he’s craved for so long, and his nerves are singing with an almost electric buzz. His heart is pounding, beating in overdrive even though it’s the most chaste kiss he’s ever had and he never wants this to stop.

 

When they finally pull away, Minhyun smiles at the wide grin Seongwoo is sporting until his eyes crinkle up into crescents and he cants forward to smother his giggles into Seongwoo’s shoulder.

 

“I’m doomed,” he bemoans between giggles, “Doomed I told you, I should have never kissed you.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“You’re blooming again,” he giggles like a madman, pointing at the wild bouquet coming to life on the top of Seongwoo’s head, “You shaved your head for nothing!”

 

“Not nothing,” Seongwoo protests, “I got you, didn’t I?”

 

“You did,” Minhyun concedes, pulling backwards once he gathers his wits around him again with a sigh, “Now get out.”

 

“What?”

 

“Out,” he demands sternly, “I have maybe another thirty seconds before the pollen hits me and I start sneezing like mad again.”

 

“So that’s it? I don’t get to see you until the end of Spring?” Seongwoo complains even as he gets up gamely to leave the apartment, jamming his beanie on over the resilient blooms springing into existence.

 

“We’ll think of something,” Minhyun shoos him out the door, “Maybe this time I’ll go see the doctor. We can’t be the first couple that have run into this problem.”

 

Seongwoo shoves his feet into his shoes hastily, “Okay, I’ll wait for the good news then, do I get a kiss goodbye?”

 

“No.”

 

“But Minhyun!”

 

“Nope, no kisses, sorry, I love you, but I don’t want to die.”

 

“I shaved my head bald for you!”

 

“No can do,” Minhyun grins mischeviously as he closes the door firmly in Seongwoo’s face, “Your hair will grow back, my lungs won’t regenerate.”

 

“Every flower on the top of my head is a declaration of my love for you!” Seongwoo insists, “And yet you’re so cruel!”

 

“And my declaration of love for you will be maybe taking whatever meds the doctor prescribes so we can be together!”

 

"No kiss? And no pancakes? You promised me pancakes!"

 

"I'll make you all the pancakes you want when I'm not literally struggling to breathe when you're in the same room as me!"

 

“I love you!” Seongwoo’s declaration is muffled by the door and Minhyun laughs before giving in to the sneeze he had been fighting off valiantly.

 

“I love you too! Now get away from the door before you murder me!”

 

Minhyun grins at the closed door like a fool even as Minki, who has finally had enough, stomps out of his room and demands to know what all the shouting was about and who he had to murder because it was too damn early on the weekend for him to be awake.

 

 

Maybe spring wasn't so bad after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Flowers featured (in order of appearance):
> 
> 1st - Bellflower - endless love, gratitude  
> 2nd - Honeysuckle - bonds of love, devoted affection  
> 3rd - Lilacs (purple) - first love / Primrose - young love  
> 4th - Hibiscus - delicate beauty, sweet disposition  
> 5th - Tsubaki/Camellia - admiration & perfection, “You are a flame in my heart”
> 
>  
> 
> Minhyun does not bloom despite being in love with Seongwoo due to his allergies; his body naturally stops the blooming process so that he doesn't end up killing himself.


End file.
